From the Worshipful Master

Volume of Sacred Law vs. the Holy Bible

Volume of Sacred Law vs. the Holy Bible

The three great lights of Freemasonry are the Holy Bible, Square and Compasses. The Holy Bible is given to us as a rule and guide of our faith. But what happens if the Holy Bible is not the candidate or Worshipful Master of the Lodge’s scripture?

Masonry teaches us inclusivity. We meet on the square. We are all equal, regardless of which religion you are. The only requirement is that a Mason believes in a Supreme Being. This requirement is so the candidate can place his hand on the Bible and the obligation would be meaningful.

Having a candidate who is Muslim, Buddhist, Hindi or any other religion take his obligation upon a book that is not his book of faith would be pointless and make no sense. Due to this, we allow all candidates and Masons to have whichever book of worship or volume of sacred law they choose. I’ve seen lodges with three or four volumes of sacred law on the altar at one time, and I’ve seen candidates take their obligations on texts that were different from the Holy Bible.

One of the great things about Freemasonry is being able to have Brothers that are from different walks of life and that you may not ever meet if not for Freemasonry. There are Brothers from all professions, income levels and religions. Since religion is one of the most important facets of a man’s life, it is important that we respect everyone’s religion and the simplest way we can show respect to everyone is by simply using other Volumes of Sacred Law instead of the Holy Bible when applicable.

Fraternally,
Stephen Liguori
Worshipful Master

From the Senior Warden

Volume of Sacred Law vs. the Holy Bible

Freemasonry, as we are aware, is not a religion in of itself, but being so intertwined with religious context that it is easy for outside viewers and even newer brothers to make that mistake. We pray to the Great Architect, whom we generally, and reverently, refer to as God. We do not, however, delineate or mandate exact variations of God from any established religion.

There’s no denying that speculative Freemasonry has its roots in Abrahamic faith, which we can trace back all the way to the building of King Solomon’s temple and before. However, even within the Abrahamic faiths, we as Masons don’t mandate the specific tenants of Catholicism over Protestant Christianity, or Mormonism instead of Islam, and so forth. As Masons, we don’t, and shouldn’t, look to divide ourselves by the specific of our individual faiths, but instead judge each other by those basic qualities that we look for in prospective brothers seeking admission to a lodge; that being simply, do they put their faith in a Supreme Being, are they a good person, and are they working to make themselves a better person?

As comes with the traditions in our roots, we generally refer to the Bible as our rule and guide, and a Bible is present in all lodges. Over the years, there has been some continuing debate over furnishing lodges specifically with the Bible as it has been in the past, or providing in both ritual and law for a more nebulous term, usually ‘Volume of Sacred Law’. The question of the debate centers not around what’s specifically allowed; many lodges can and do substitute out the text for, say, individual degrees based on the candidate’s wishes. It revolves around what we should consider ‘standard’ within the Craft.

As we move forward into the modern age, the world has become a much smaller place; we’re more connected, the geographical boundaries between majorly prominent religions has blurred significantly. It’s no longer as uncommon to find neighbors of other faiths close at hand. Along with, potential brothers who may be interested in the Craft and would be a boon to it, but of faiths not traditionally associated with Masonry. Personally, I’m for the Volume of Sacred Law being considered the legislative standard; I feel we should judge our brothers and our neighbors not on the specifics of their beliefs, but the content of their character, and what kind of person their beliefs lead them to be.

Fraternally,
Cameron Smith
Senior Warden

From the Junior Warden

Volume of Sacred Law vs. the Holy Bible

One of the central themes in Free Masonry is inclusion. Free Mason opens its fraternity to all good men from every country, race and religion, that elects to take part in their teachings and degrees and is considered to be worthy by the fraternity.

With this inclusion comes responsibility, therefore all men are required to take upon themselves a solemn obligation upon the Book of Sacred Law. Masonry refers to the Holy Bible, the Koran, the Tora or other religion’s holy writings as the “book of sacred law”, because for each man this is a personal choice. We welcome all men who are not atheist and have a belief in a Supreme Being, but we don’t dictate what religion or what holy writing a man chooses to live by.

Much like the founders of America, many of whom were Free Masons, we welcome men of all religions, and therefore we don’t specify or endorse any particular book of sacred law.

Fraternally,
Doug Steel
Junior Warden